How to Hire a Carpet Cleaning Service

How to Hire a Carpet Cleaning Service

It’s easy to see why carpet is one of the most popular flooring choices in the nation. It looks great, feels soft underfoot, and it’s inexpensive to install. The problem with carpet is that it requires a fair amount of maintenance to look good and to reach its full life expectancy. Every time you step on the carpet, you grind dirt into the fibers. This dirt is abrasive, like sandpaper, and it causes the fibers to wear out faster. Because of this, clean carpets are likely to not only look better for longer, but will actually be more durable than carpets cleaned less often.

DIY vs. Professional Carpet Cleaning Services

There are both do-it-yourself methods and a variety of professional systems for cleaning carpets. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Hiring a professional carpet cleaning service is one way to ensure that the job is done using the best equipment and the best cleaning solutions for the job. Carpet cleaning services are often also proficient in carpet repair, meaning that you may be able to have runs or small tears fixed at the same time your carpet is being cleaned.

While do-it-yourself methods cost less, they are rarely as thorough. Even if you rent the same equipment that a professional carpet cleaning service is likely to use, unless you have some experience operating it, it will be difficult to get the same results. Additionally, you’ll have to lug the bulky equipment to your home, and then back to wherever you rented it!

The bigger problem is that do-it-yourself methods provide plenty of opportunities for you to damage your carpet. The three most common ways that do-it-yourselfers (and inexperienced pros) damage carpets is by over shampooing, over wetting, or failing to protect the wet carpet from furniture.

Picking the Right Carpet Cleaning Service

When choosing a carpet cleaning service, stick with reputable firms and check prices upfront. Stairs are more labor intensive, so most firms also charge for them separately on a per-step basis. Offers of “3 rooms for $49” may sound good, but most companies can’t make money at those prices. They’ll try to sell you extras like pre-spotting, soil retardants, or deodorizing and anti-static treatments that may end up costing far more than the all-inclusive prices offered by other firms.